Proposed Amendment to FC Rules

The government’s obsession in
regulating ‘foreign funding’ is now starting to borders around
paranoia and moving from ‘regulation’ to ‘control’. It’s unhealthy,
to say the least.

Reportedly the Ministry of Home Affairs may soon require
all NGOs registered or granted prior permission to receive foreign
funds under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, to
allow the Central Government to access details of their FCRA Bank
accounts in real time.

According to amendments proposed
by the Union Home Ministry to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation)
Rules (FCRR), 2011, NGOs may have to give their consent in writing at
the time of applying for registration or prior permission, and also
during the renewal of the FCRA license.

The move is not only
aimed at enabling tighter monitoring of NGOs’ foreign receipts, but
also keeping track of their utilization.

Right now, MHA depends on banks to
give them details within 48 hours of any transaction. This proposed
amendment will allow the Centre to readily access and examine the
FCRA accounts of an NGO under scrutiny, through authorized
agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, the RAW or the FCRA monitoring
unit of the Home Ministry.

Another key amendment proposed to
the FCRR would require all NGOs to
maintain their FCRA accounts in banks with a core banking system.
Reportedly, of the over 33,000 licensed NGOs, around 5,000 to 6,000
maintain their FCRA accounts in small cooperative banks that do not
have core banking.

The third amendment under
consideration seeks to limit
the prior permission route to just two transactions/projects
after which it will be mandatory for the NGO to apply for regular
registration under FCRA.

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